Brothers Alfred, Kristian and Rasmus
We are now in the fifth generation of the Hetland family to live in Griggs County.
Karl Hetland, born in Norway in the year 1844, came to the United States in the late 1880s. He first settled in Chicago where he worked until coming to Griggs County, Sverdrup Township. He made his home here, living here until he passed away in 1924. Karl married Ane Madland in Norway. Six children were born to them in Norway: Kristian, Rasmus, Alfred, Fanuel, Gunhild and Dine.
Kristian, born in 1873, was the first of the family to come to the United States. He arrived in New York from Stavanger on November 12, 1889. He sailed on the vessel, Loconia. He met his father in Chicago and they traveled to the Cooperstown area where they settled. Krist became a United States citizen in 1907. He passed away in 1949.
Rasmus Hetland came from Stavanger to Boston in June 1902. He died in Cooperstown in 1953. He never married.
Alfred and his mother joined the family in March 1905. They sailed on the vessel, Eturia from Stavanger. His mother died in 1919. Alfred became a United States citizen in 1910.
Another brother, Fanuel, came from Stavanger later but returned to Norway and later lost his life at sea.
Dina married Martin Nevland in Norway. They and their children came to Greenfield Township to make their home. The Nevland family consisted of eight boys and one girl. They later moved to Juanita, North Dakota, to farm.
Gunhild married Rasmus Hai and remained in Norway. Nine children were born to them.
Rasmus, Kristian and Alfred settled on the Swingen McCoy farm in Helena Township. They farmed and were breeders of Percheron horses and German police dogs.
Krist, an excellent blacksmith, did all the plow share sharpening for the farm. With his skillful hands, he made many a tool to be used on the farm. He spent much of his time working at the Torkel Njaa farm southeast of Cooperstown.
It was a memorable pastime to listen to these three Hetland brothers reminisce. Alfred often talked of the Christmas Eve day where when returning from Hannaford with the children, a storm came up. They were driving horses and a sled. He became lost so he tied the reins to the sled, sat down in the sled, hoping and praying the horses would get them home safely. When the team stopped, they looked up and they were in front of the house. We can well imagine that team got an extra measure of feed that evening.
The brothers purchased one of the first cars in this area - a Reo. They went joy riding one day. They stopped to look the thing over. One of them was cranking and the other was fooling around with the spark plugs. The one cranking received a shock that went through his body. He landed in the road. They became afraid of it and walked home, leaving the car behind. The next day they went and pulled it home with a team of horses. They felt safer with horses; at least they knew where they were going. They traded the car off for lots in Hannaford and later traded the lots for a feed grinder engine.
They were asked to keep the car off the road as it was causing runaways with horse drawn objects on the road.
They often spoke of the coal shortage. When they heard rumors of coal coming into Hannaford by train, they would leave home at 3:00 a.m., to be sure of getting their quota. Their turn would come to get coal and they would receive only a few shovels full. Families with children were first on the list to get coal and what was left was shared among the bachelors. They would speak of eating frozen food for want of heat to warm the food up. They would spend much time in the barn with the cattle to keep warm.
The brothers invested in a threshing rig and went about the neighborhood at harvest time. There were many adventures that were told about. Alfred's son, Charles (see threshing story) continued the threshing operation in the neighborhood after his dad and uncles retired. He kept this up until the combines took over.
Alfred Hetland married Lena Okland, his childhood sweetheart, who came to North Dakota from Stavanger, Norway. Three children were born to them. Signa, Charles and Ann. Lena died during the flu epidemic in 1918, at the age of 33. The family without a mother needed some help so Aunt Carrie Walen, Lena's sister, came to help them out. She also had five children of her own.
Signa married John Victor Mortenson in 1935. They lived in the Hannaford, North Dakota, community for several years and then moved to Baldwin, Wisconsin John Victor Mortenson passed away January 21, 1984. Signa Mortenson passed away in 1988. They had three children: Leona, Shirley and Joane. Leona Mortenson married Carl Knutson and they had four children: Duane, Ronda, RoxAnne and Kevin. Carl Knutson passed away February 1989.
Joane passed away at birth. Shirley Mortenson married Dwight Alwin of Baldwin, Wisconsin They had three children: Dwight, Jr., Kari and Cheryl.
Ann Hetland married Carl Hobbie of St. Paul, Minnesota. They had two children, James and Judy. Judy married Duane Alwin of Baldwin, Wisconsin, and had two children, Brian and Pamela. James married and lives at Stillwater, Minnesota. Carl Hobbie passed away April 1971.
Source: Hannaford Area History North Dakota Centennial 1889 - 1989 Page 263